Where went September?

Somehow it seems as though September came and went with hardly a glance backwards. Ah well. Suffice it to say, every day was full to the brim, and the following pictures capture but a few snippets ...

We've definitely been enjoying Toby ... Mommy must say that she loves the additional encouragement she's been to playing outside! It's fun watching her play a game of chase with the kids ... :o)

She graced us with volunteer participation in this picture ...

Matthew spending time with his big brother ...

And his big sister ...

Happy as ever! :o) He is so responsive to people. He takes in new situations pretty quietly, but people he blesses with huge smiles. He's so much fun!

(Sorry it's tilted ... please crook your head--I don't have the ten minutes it would take to fix it and get it back into this position!)

We've definitely spent lots of time coloring and drawing and crafting ... it's been neat to see Hannah's imagination blooming in her pictures.

And this is actually from August, but Peter's doing great with scissors ...

He did all of the cutting for his tractor picture. :o) He's also talking now. A lot. In full and complete sentences. He's still a bit difficult to understand sometimes, but we're working on that with him, and he's improving every week.

Here's a cooperative project from just the other day. The whole thing was glued together into a project about 3-feet wide. It's a picture of our house ... with bedrooms and stairs and lots of other things. :o) Awww.

Mmmm ...

Everybody's hungry these days! Although the big ones are *starting* to be able to get their own snacks. Wednesday evenings we do cereal after prayer meeting at church. Hannah was particularly hungry this night ...

With big appetites, I guess it's good that coupons are still happening. All of this (plus 2 lbs of carrots, unpictured) for $15.05. I saved $37.80. And yes, I realize the refrigerated cookies aren't the healthiest option, but at least they are fresher and have fewer preservatives than the packaged ones that taste like a combination of cardboard and chalkdust. And at 44 cents each, it's helpful to have them to pull out for lunch snacks when from-scratch cookies aren't happening. The kisses will go on top of peanut butter cookies I'll make with the jar of peanut butter I got for 24 cents the other week. :o) The Lord is good.

So, that's about it for now.

Look for more posts about our trip to the apple orchard, Peter's tumble to cement from four feet, and other minor events in upcoming days ... :o)

Bed Time

Not as in "time for bed" but "bed time" ...

What's not in this picture is the piles of laundry and socks we had matched and folded just prior to the picture. I folded clothes, Hannah helped me fold socks, wash cloths, and dishtowels, Matthew rolled around, and Peter put folded items away. Afterwards, the kids hopped up to play and Mommy decided they were too cute to resist a picture!

I love the expressions in this one ... they are classic!

Yea! Everybody's looking and smiling! :o)
"Can we make silly faces?"
Aww, sure! :o)

And compliments of Hannah ... notice who Matthew does not resemble??? :o)

I love my munchkins!

:o)

Our New Friend

In addition to finishing our swing set, we enjoyed the distinct privilege of adopting a new family member this weekend. Our dear friends are preparing to go to Brazil as missionaries. They officially began deputation on Friday, so Toby needed a new home.

Chris and I have been considering adopting Toby for most of the summer, but just weren't really sure what was going to be best. Life's pretty busy with three little ones. We weren't sure adding a dog to the mix would be the greatest idea--even as perfect of a fit as she seemed to be. Since we didn't want to get their hopes up, we never even mentioned we were considering it to the kids.

However, about a month ago, completely out of the blue, Peter was coloring at the table as I was preparing dinner and he told me, "I want a dog. A big dog." Out of curiousity, I asked him what he would name a big dog. "Toby." Cute. Very cute. Very random. We had not been talking about dogs, we had not seen any dogs recently. There was no good reason for him to be thinking about dogs.

However, the next day, a very similar conversation ensued.

And the next.

And the next.

Over the space of about three weeks, Peter prayed daily for a dog named Toby. He thanked God for a dog named Toby (that we didn't even have.) He asked for his money tin (with all of 54 cents) and asked to buy a dog named Toby with his own money.

So. When Mommy and Daddy have already been seriously considering this, and there's a dog named Toby who needs a new home who is two years old (i.e. not a puppy!) and has been raised in a loving family with a little boy so we know she's great with kids, it's kind of hard to say no to such persistence ...

So we've adopted a sweet dog named Toby. And both of the kids are very excited ... Peter particularly so.
So, Saturday launched a new "normal" with Toby in the mix ...

The kids and Toby played in the creek while Daddy mowed ...

And they gave Toby a bath after playing in the creek ...

And washed the van since the hose was out ... And Matthew ate his first cereal ...

And today we enjoyed more fun outside with Toby ...

She's super sweet and is settling in nicely to our family. And she's a great reminder to pray for our friends!

The Great Unveiling

We have spent nearly the entire summer working intermittently on one particular project. Here's just one piece of it ...

Any guesses?

Maybe another angle will help ...

Well, let me share the rest of the story, and then I'll fill you in on this little part my husband engineered to save us significant dollars ...

Grandma and Grandpa M. blessed us with the funds to buy/build a play set for the kids. We spent a long time investigating various and sundry options. (Any surprise there? No, I didn't think so. You know by now that that's S.O.P.) ;o)

We researched Craig's List, DIY sites, sales at our local big-name home improvement stores, etc. However, what we really wanted to do was build something that worked with the natural elements of the land the Lord has blessed us with. Chris also wanted something big enough for an adult to enjoy swinging on ...

So, he engineered a 14' beam ...And with the aid of the tractor and multiple series of pullies, ...

Hoisted it 12' in the air ... (I even lent a bit of assistance for that part!)

And secured it between two obliging trees that seemed to be placed there just for the purpose of someday holding a swing set! It has been one of the projects that we've worked on in spurts ... and the kids have enjoyed navigating the ladders which have been secured to the two trees for most of the summer!

We kind of got held up mid-summer because it was frustrating to think about spending twice as much on the parts and pieces like hangers, chain, and swings as we did on the beam! Chris finally found a good deal on the chain and swings, and he engineered his own hangers ... saving $75!!!

Some recycled unistrut ...

which holds the cool piece at the top which he designed and had someone at work weld for him. Pretty cool, huh? I think so! :o)

Here's the first night we were testing the concept and length of chain and such ...

And this weekend we finished! It has three swing bays and a rope to climb! (Sorry the pictures are dark ... we've been claiming every ounce of daylight available for this project!)

Here's a picture I took this afternoon ...

We love the fact that it blends in really well with the trees around it ... and the kids are having a blast! :o) We have additional plans to add in some platforms/monkey bars in future summers, ... but there's plenty of time for that. And the plans will probably change a hundred times (or more!) But that's the fun of designing it yourself! (Thanks for the funding, G&G!)

Happy 5 Months!

Happy 5 Months, Matthew!

We love you, Monkey!

Your cheerful spirit and smiles melt our heart ...

we are so thankful for you!

No Stairsteps Here

You know those nice cute pictures where the children look like stairsteps ... each a head or so shorter than the one before or after them? Well, at 4-1/2 months, Matthew's already giving good reason to suspect that such photos simply won't be happening around here. :o) (He's in 9-12 months clothes already ... yikes!) Anyway, we captured some cute group photos this weekend ...

The kids in their new jammies--
Hannah's new jammies were gifted-down from a friend at work, but Peter's were a little more unique. As I was poking through the 6-9 month bin a second time to try to find a couple of the larger summer outfits for Matthew to supplement the abundance of winter clothes from the 12-month bin, I discovered two sets of brand new 3T jammies! I've no idea why I put them in there, but regardless, Peter's quite excited! (I'm pretty sure thanks are due Grandma H.) :o)

Mommy and the kids enjoying Mike Mulligan while Daddy finished up some research for a project ... And Sunday morning photos ...
It's helps having Daddy standing behind Mommy making faces. :o)

Them's our munchkins and we love 'em to pieces!

:o)